The End of the Year Statistics
Israel's economy did better than expected, expanding by 4.5% this year, according to
preliminary estimates. The average among the OECD nations is reportedly 2.7%.
While living standards apparently contracted in most of the West, here an index
tracking the standard of living increased by 2.7% in 2010, officials from the Central
Bureau of Statistics stated at a press conference yesterday.
Read more about the 2010 statistics from here.

Israel as a Natural Gas Exporting Nation
An offshore natural gas reserve contains some 16 trillion
cubic feet of gas worth an estimated $45 billion, an energy
corporation which owns a share of the project said on
Wednesday.
Noble Energy Inc., which owns 39.66% of the prospect,
said the massive store of natural gas in the “Leviathan”
reserve – the largest of its kind discovered in the world in the last decade – “has the
potential to position Israel as a naturalgas- exporting nation.”
Read it all from here.

Desert Fish
"There's plenty of fish in the sea," the old
saying goes - but that's not as true as it
once was.
In fact, says Dotan Bar-Noy, CEO of Israel's
GFA (Grow Fish Anywhere) Advanced
Systems, there are fewer fish in the sea
with each passing year. "Overfishing is a
much bigger problem than people realize,

and in a few years, many species of salt
water fish are simply going to disappear if
something isn't done."
Bar-Noy and 30 or so others - mostly engineers, marine biologists and other technical
folk - have found a solution to the diminishing numbers of fish in the sea.
To read more please click here.

An Israeli Building Houses in
Izmir

Recovering From “National
Trauma”
Earlier this month, despite the efforts of
hundreds of firefighters, a fire ravaged
through the Carmel in northern Israel,
destroying more than four million trees
and about 9,000 acres of the Carmel
forest - Israel's most renowned.
It was finally extinguished with the help
of firefighters from more than 12 other
countries.
Israel's director of forest management,
Israel Tauber refers to the fire as "a
national trauma."
Please click here to read more and here
to watch.

Christians in Israel are
Getting Prepared

Real estate mogul Yossi Avrahami is set
to be the first Israeli to market housing to
the Turkish middle class.

Palestinian and Israeli Christians are
joining together with thousands of
tourists to celebrate Christmas
together in the Holy Land.

"The government there is very
supportive of foreign initiatives, but
Israelis know very well that they are
better off collaborating with locals,"
Avrahami said. "I continue to seek
investment opportunities there, but
never overtly."
To read more please click here.

In Ramallah, Santa Claus is on display
in windows and stores all around the
bustling city.
Latin Patriarch Foud Twall wished all of
Israel a “Merry Christmas.” and even
went to the Gaza Strip, where he
visited the enclave’s only Catholic
Church!
Check out some videos of Christians
in Israel getting into the Christmas
spirit, here!

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